Henry f



(No Model.)

H. F. ELTON & J. W. CADWELL. PAPER BAG HOLDER.

No. 482,056. Patented Sept. 6, 1892.

S'Ywwto'rs.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFI E.

HENRY F. ELTON AND JONATHAN W. CADWVELL, OF NEXV YORK, N. Y.

PAPER-BAG .HOLDER."

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 482,056, dated September 6, 1892.

Application filed October 16, 1891. Serial No. 408,873. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, HENRY F. ELTON and JONATHAN W. CADWELL, citizens of the United States, and residents of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Paper-Bag Holders, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to paper-bag holders, and is especially intended for store-service, its object being to arrange in a convenient and accessible position a series of bags of different sizes and to replace any one of the several series without disturbing the others and also in conj unctiou therewith to provide a suitable take-up for the slack cord.

To this end our invention consists of a suitable supporting-frame, which may be either suspended from the ceiling or supported from the counter. To this frame is secured a series of bag-holders. The paper bags having previously been arranged in suitable groups of difierent sizes, each group is secured by means of awire passing through the upper ends of the bags. We prefer to use for this purpose a common wire nail the head portion of which is placed in one of the holders and held therein by means of a spring-tongue, while the pointed end of the nail is supported in an adjacent holder, the take-up consisting, preferably, of an arm, which, falling by force of gravity, will take up the slack of the cord.

To enable others to understand and use our said invention,we will proceed to describe its construction and operation, and subsequently point out in the appended claims such characteristic features as we believe to be novel.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the completed device, each side of the frame having a series of bag-holders attached thereto, one side showing a series of paper bags in groups of different sizes suspended from the holders, while the other side is empty. In this view one of the cord take-ups is shown in a raised position, the other in its normal or horizontal position. Fig. 2 is a vertical end elevation of the device with all the cord attached, except that portion leading into the rings of the frame and take-ups; Fig. 3, a side elevation of the holder attached to a section of the supporting-frame, also a common wire nail to support the bags projecting therefrom; Fig. 4, a front elevation of the holder as shown in Fig. 3. Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 are modified constructions of the holder. Fig. 9 represents a group of paper bags mounted on a common wire nail and in readiness to be suspended from the holders.

Its operation and construction are as follows:

l 1 represent the supporting-frame; 2 2', cord-baskets; 3, frame-supporting rod; 4 4', cord take-ups; 5, bag-holders; 6, retainingsprings of the holders to hold the bag wlres or nails in place; A, bundle of paper bags.

The supporting-frame is preferably constructed as shown in Fig. 1, whose sides 1 1' drop slightly from the horizontal, so that the under side, to which the holders are attached, forms an obtuse angle. This form gives the best results in the arrangement of the holders and bags thereon. It enables the holders to be made of one length, the longest bags suspended at the apex of the angle and graded out-ward therefrom, the shortest bags being at the end of the supporting-frame. This arrangement brings the bottom of the bags on a line with each other, so that they may be easily reached. The rod 3, as shown, supports the frame 1 from overhead, but could of course project downward from said frame and form a support from the counter. The baskets 2 2' are also supported on rod 3 by means of the frame 6, (see Fig. 2,) and their height regulated thereon by means of the collar 7.

The preferred form of the bag-holders is that shown either in Fig. 3 or Fig. 5. The latter is made of one piece,which is first bent in the form shown in Fig. 6, the upper end 8 compressed and bent at right angles for attaching to the frame, as shown in Fig. 5, the short end 9 forming the spring to retain the bag-supporting wire or nail in place. The longer portion 5, whose end 10 overlaps the tongue or spring 9, (see Fig. 4,) has the slot or opening 11 to receive the body or head portion of the nail.

The construction shown in Fig. 3 is simply two pieces of metal, the upper ends 8 bent as in Fig. 5, and the longer piece 5 forming the bag-support. This latter construction is similar to that shown in Figs. 5 and 6, with the we ception that it is composed of two parts instead of one.

In the construction shown in Fig. 8 the longer piece, forming the support or holder proper, is made long enough to be attached to the supporting-frame, forming thereby a loop. The tongue or spring 9 is attached to one side of the loop. In this construction the elongated slot or hole 11 will terminate into the enlarged portion 12 to admit the head of the ba -supporting nail. Several bags of the same size are placed together and the wire nail 13 forced through their upper ends, as shown in Fig. 9. Various sizes are thus arranged and keptin readiness under the counter or in any convenient place, and when wanted areplaced in the supports in the following manner: The projecting point of the nail is placed in the elongated hole 14 (see Fig. at) of one of the holders, while thehead of the nail is brought against the spring-tongue 9 of the holder next adjacent thereto, as shown by the dotted position of the nail shown in Fig. A downward pull will force the nail into the slot 11 of the end 10 of the holder and the reaction of the spring 9 will lock it firmly in place. The distance between the holders will depend on the length of thenail used, sulfieient end-play for the head 15 in the holder being also taken into consideration. when arranged as shown in Fig. 1, a slight downward pull on a bag will tear it from the nail, which nail when emptied is readily detached by simply reversing the operation for inserting the same, previously described.

The advantage of the above arrangement lies in the fact that no speciallyconstructed bag-supporting wireis needed. Any common wire nail of sufficient length is all that is required, and if lost can easily be replaced. As before mentioned,a large number of bags of different sizes strung on their respective nails can always be kept at hand in readiness to be suspended from the holders when needed, so that no time is lost in immediately refilling the same.

The cord from each basket (see Fig. 1) leads outward therefrom as follows: that from basket 2 follows the direction as indicated by the arrows at, first passing around rod 3 and through the guide-ring 16 of said rod, thence through ring 17 of take-up arm 4, back through ring 18 of rod 3, and thence through guide-ring 19 in the end of the side 1 of the supportingframe. The cord from the basket 2' follows a similar course, as indicated by arrows 3', through guide-rings 16 17 18 19. In using the cord a downward pull of either of the exposed ends cor b will elevate the take-up arm (see 4 Fig. 1) controlled thereby. Then the cord is released, said arm will descend by its own weight, raising the exposed end above the counter, but leaving it within easy reach and also take up the slack cord between all of the guide-rings and the cord-basket. The

i the bags.

friction of the cord passing around the supporting-rod 3 is sulficient to prevent the cordball from unwinding faster than required. A tension-spring for this purpose might be used,if required, between the basket and the first guide-ring. The take-up arms t 4 are each pivoted to the side frames 1 1' by means of the screws 20 20. Said arms are so nicely balanced by means of the weights 21 21' that a slight pull of the cord will elevate them and yet insure their falling, so as to gather in the slack.

The principal feature of our device consists in the bag-holders proper and their arrangement on an inclined frame, whereby, as before mentioned, bags of dilferent lengths can be suspended, whose lower ends are on a line with each other; also, theadaptability of the holders to the use of means always accessiblesuch as common wire nailsfor suspending We do not wish, therefore, to be confined to the exact shape of the bag-holder shown, as this form can be varied, means to support the wire or nail and a spring to hold the same in place being the principal features. The spring plays a very important part in the construction, as it prevents the wire or nail becoming disengaged from the holders in the upward thrust of the hand in the haste to secure a bag.

The supporter 1 1' with its holders may, if so desired, be used independent of the cord device. 1

Having thus described our invention, what, therefore, we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination, in a paper-bag supporter, of a suitable frame, a holder depending therefrom, a slot therein to receive the bag-supporting wire or nail,and a spring whose free end closes the upper end of said slot to prevent the accidental displacement of the wire or nail, as described.

2. In a paper-bag supporter of the character described, the combination, with a suitable supporting-frame, of the holder 5, whose curved end 10 is provided with the slot 11 to admit the body portion of a nail below its head, spring 9 to close the upper open end of said slot so as to retain the nail therein, as shown, and slot 14, formed through both said spring and bolder, said latter slot placed above the curved slotted end of said holder and the free end of said retaining-spring, so as to receive the point of a nail whose head portion rests in the holder adjacent thereto, in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York.

HENRY F. ELTON. JONATHAN W. GADWELL.

Witnesses:

B. F. MELnosE, J OHN 1I. BARLACH. 

